I watched society's standards slip, little by little, starting in the late sixties and early seventies. Little, tiny changes that finally added up to the crap you see today.
The really sad thing is that my sons didn't believe me when I first told them there were no guns in school when I attended in the fifties and sixties. No cops either. They have never known the absence of possible fatal violence in school.
Oh,some of the boys duked it out behind the gym, and the male teachers would come out and throw them into separate corners, then make them apologize. Girls didn't fight physically. No one had a gun. Seriously.
Also in my high school, the restrooms were labeled 'Girls' and 'Boys', not 'Men' and 'Women'. A small thing, you say? Not really. It meant that we weren't adults and we were not in charge.
We had a dress code. Stop rolling your eyes. I see that.
Yes, we were made to wear such awful things as dresses - no shorter than two inches above the knee - and boys had to tuck in their collared shirts. Hair was of a certain length, no facial hair on the boys. Girls couldn't wear low-cut or too-tight blouses.
It started changing, and I'm afraid I pushed for some of it. Some of my friends and I went to see the girl's advisor one winter day. We were tired of our legs being cold as we changed classes (our high school had outdoor hallways.)
So we asked her if there was a rule about how short the dresses had to be.
She replied, "They can't be more than two inches above the knee.."
"No,ma'am," we replied. "The other way. How short do they have to be?"
She flipped through the rules and allowed as how there was no rule for that. We smiled sweetly and left.
The next day, about six of us came to school with ankle length skirts on.
"Why are you girls dressed like that? You look outlandish!"
More sweet smiles. "Our legs are cold, and you won't let us wear pants."
The next week, apparently disturbed by our continuing to wear the Granny dresses, they ruled that we could wear pants. They had to be nice looking pantsuits, now, no jeans....
We were disappointed that they gave in so fast, and a little disconcerted. We had pushed, and they gave in!
A few years later, the dress codes simply fell by the wayside. And so did a lot of adult authority over teenagers. Big mistake.
You ever heard the old phrase, "Give 'em an inch, they'll take a mile"?
People are like that. Kids want what they want. Adults have become pandering ninnies, afraid of hurting feelings, while the kids end up coming to school half-nekkid and with guns.
And you dummies who are now demanding we stuff the kids into uniforms don't even know why you want it. You give all sorts of reasons, but the real reason should be: you need to take charge again and put some order into the chaos you have created.
You ever get a tiny rip in your clothing? Sew it up with a few stitches and there's no problem. Ignore it, and before you know it, the tiny rip has gone all the way up the sleeve.
That's how people work. Let the little things go, and they will keep pushing until you have things going on you never intended. It's called testing.
Grow a backbone, will you? It is just wrong that you don't teach kids how to dress or behave.
Kids know they should not be in charge and out of control. It's time you, the school administrators and teachers, figured it out.
They will be safer. And believe it or not, way happier.
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